Lists - Top TV Shows of the Decade

Paste has been busy. Earlier this week we posted their Top Albums of the Decade and today, they've released their favorite 20 TV shows of the 2000s (kind of, see below). Not to brag, but we had this idea long ago, and in fact, our idea is better. Picking the 20 best TV shows of a decade is like picking the 20 best musical artists for a decade. The output varies, sounds/styles change, and inevitably, you end up choosing either a.) the artist/show that resonated the most with you (and likely suffered an untimely break-up/cancellation) or b.) the artist/show with the most (and, at the very least, "consistently good") output. Therefore, by the end of the year, you will see a breakdown of the Top 10 TV Seasons of the 2000s on GSATW. That's a promise, and if we have to fail out of school to do it, then... well, actually we probably won't do it. Sorry. We're pretty far in the red at this point.

Paste's Top TV Shows of the 2000s
20. Deadwood (HBO)
19. Dexter (Showtime)
18. Breaking Bad (AMC)
17. Family Guy (Fox)
16. Weeds (Showtime)
15. Friday Night Lights (NBC)
14. The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
13. Freaks and Geeks (NBC)
12. 30 Rock (NBC)
11. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
10. Mad Men (AMC)
09. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB/UPN)
08. Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)
07. LOST (ABC)
06. Sopranos (HBO)
05. The Office (BBC/NBC)
04. The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
03. The West Wing (NBC)
02. The Wire (HBO)
01. Arrested Development (Fox)

Just a few thoughts:

• You won't find a more adamant supporter of Arrested Development. I love that show, and I hate that Fox canceled it and no one else picked it up. But it's a comedy, and as impressive as their comedic writing was, you can't put it ahead of The Wire. You just can't.
• I know that The Daily Show is more established and routinely wins Emmy's (they still give those out, right?), but they should've just combined it with The Colbert Report and put it somewhere in the 10-15 range. Both are incredibly impressive and I don't want to take anything away from either, but we're talking about a completely different entity.
• Freaks and Geeks had one amazing year that spanned from Fall 1999 to Spring 2000... is that really enough to get it into a Top 20 list for this decade? And one season?? It was definitely great, but at some point, you just have to give the grade "INC" and move on.
• I thought it was really funny that Buffy and Battlestar were right next to each other: two REALLY cultish shows that, coincidentally, my dad liked. Always a good sign.
• Of all the networks, I would tip my hat to AMC for the fact that they've just jumped into making original series and two of their first are of such high quality; in my opinion, Mad Men and Breaking Bad deserve to be a little higher.

Still, I think the overall complaint is pretty obvious... you have to break this list down to Best Seasons! Anyone who could argue that Friday Night Lights - Season 3 was worse than LOST - Season 2 has never watched television.